Fulton Place Respite Centre offers families much-needed relief

19 June 2017

Day and overnight respite care, including weekends, is now available in Cairns at PresCare’s Fulton Place Respite Centre.

Fulton Place by PresCare offers much-needed relief to people who are caring for an elderly loved one at home and offers guests a vibrant program of activities and opportunities for outings and interacting with others.

The modern, bright venue has a cottage-style atmosphere with space for 12 guests during the day and five overnight. Each room is decorated with a distinct theme to reduce issues with disorientation for guests. They provide meals, outings, a full program of events and a sensory garden for guests to enjoy the sights, smells and textures of nature in a safe environment.

Staff at Fulton Place specialise in supporting people living with dementia. Caring for someone with dementia at home can be physically and emotionally challenging for families. Respite care, and particularly overnight respite care, can be a lifeline.

James Buckingham of Bayview Heights moved into his mother, Faye’s, house to care for her after his father passed away. Faye, 87, has dementia and requires support at home as she experiences difficulty with sleeping and eating. She gets extremely anxious when alone. Faye is a guest at the Fulton Place Respite Centre twice per week and this offers James the opportunity to run his business, get the shopping done and take a break from his care duties. They’ve also used the service for overnight stays and James says it gives him confidence knowing that should he need urgent relief, help is only a phone call away.

“Fulton Place offers a very flexible service that can be adjusted to suit people’s individual circumstances and the care they give is genuine and sincere. The staff are warm, caring people who genuinely want to make my life easier and my mother’s life more interactive,” James said.

“Caring for mum requires me to be within sight or earshot at all times as she doesn’t like to be left alone and gets extremely anxious very quickly if she doesn’t have company. Fulton Place has allowed me to care for my mother whilst giving me the freedom to continue to run my business.”

“The staff organise interesting activities for my mother. They have also organised group meetings of carers to share their experiences,” he said.

Cairns’ population is ageing at an increased rate compared to the total Australian population and by 2050 the number of people living with dementia is anticipated to have increased by almost 400%. Meeting the needs of people with dementia and their families is a focus for health and aged care service providers and demand for services such as those offered by Fulton Place Respite Centre will continue to grow in the future.

The Fulton Place Respite Centre is located in the historic building that was previously home to former Cairns Mayor and Federal MP Bill Fulton and his wife Thelma. Bill and Thelma built Fulton Place in 1933 and was the home in which they raised their family. Thelma was diagnosed with dementia late in her life.

Greg Skelton, Chief Executive Officer of the PresCare Group said, “We felt it was a fitting tribute to the Fulton family to keep the original name of the building as a place to offer our aged care and dementia specialist services. It is a really lovely, historic building that we’ve refurbished to offer a bright, warm, engaging place for our guests to visit.”

If you need help to support a family member, please contact Fulton Place on 1800 773 722 for more information, to make a booking or to arrange a tour.